Europäischer Iltis Burgenland

The European polecat (Mustela putorius), also called the forest polecat, is despite its name not a strict forest dweller. It occupies structured cultural landscapes, woodland edges, hedgerows and meadows, and is closely tied to water: streams, ponds, ditches, reedbeds and other wetlands. During the day it rests in earth burrows, woodpiles, stone and brush piles, abandoned fox or badger setts, and occasionally around barns and farmsteads.

The polecat is crepuscular and nocturnal, largely solitary and strongly territorial, working a network of fixed trails. Its prey is dominated by amphibians, especially frogs and toads, supplemented by small mammals, birds, eggs, fish and carrion. A characteristic behaviour is the so-called toad cache (Krötendepot), where it stores paralysed amphibians as a winter food reserve. Prey is killed with a precise neck bite. Males reach about 40 to 50 cm in body length and 0.8 to 1.5 kg, females are noticeably smaller.

In DACH hunting practice the polecat is taken mainly through trap hunting using live-capture traps at trap boxes and culverts; encounters at high seats or on driven hunts are incidental. It is distinguished from the smaller stoat (Hermelin) and least weasel (Mauswiesel) by its size, bushy tail and especially the bright facial mask with dark eye stripe, which both weasels lack. It is separated from the now very rare European mink (Europäischer Nerz) by the broader white area around the muzzle and eyes, whereas the mink shows only a small white lip patch. The IUCN lists the species as Least Concern globally, although several German federal states record local declines, mainly due to wetland habitat loss and road mortality.